Thursday, February 14, 2008

1. What is his name? Matt, well, Matthew if you want to be technical.2. How long have you been together? ooh, this makes me feel old. We've been "together" for almost 19 years!! Married for 13.3. Who eats more? Hmm, that could be a toss up. But a pregnant me could out-eat him any day.4. Who said I Love You first? That was WAY too long ago to remember. Teenage love, it was probably me.5. Who is taller? Him6. Who sings better? Me, definitely. He won't even care that I say that.7. Who is smarter? We're both smarty pants.8. Who does the laundry? He can sort and do the whites, and obvious darks, it's those in-betweens (is it a color? a white? warm? cold?) that confuse him. I usually do it.9. Who does the dishes? Usually me, but he's done a lot lately, and anytime I ask.10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? We both sleep on the "right" side, me on the right, him on the left, and by 5am, any number of kids inbetween.11. Who pays the bills? I do, but we both complain about it.12. Who mows the lawn? Me! It's a break from the kids.13. Who cooks dinner? Whoever is less tired.14. Who drives when you are together? Him. And he opens the door for me, especially if we're with the kids. Gotta show those girls how it should be done.15. Who is more stubborn? Him, it "runs in his family."16. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Neither one of us.17. Whose parents do you see the most? His, they're here in town, so we're together every Sunday for dinner. But we make an effort to see my family too.18. Who kissed whom first? I'm sure he kissed me, but I certainly didn't mind.19. Who proposed? He did, on bended knee, even with a broken toe and a big awkward orthopaedic shoe.20. Who is more sensitive? Me, for sure.21. Who has more friends? Hmm, maybe me.22. Who has more siblings? He does. He's the oldest of 7, I'm 4th out of 5.23. Who wears the pants in the family? He does, but he lets me think I do.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

There aren't too many of them left anymore are there? Think of people like your grandpa or your great-uncle. My Dad is definitely one of them. He has us roaring when he recalls events of his childhood such as:

--the time he and his friends set a field on fire (by accident, of course), then ran home and upon being asked by his mother if he knew about the fire he said, with singed eyebrows, "what fire?"

--playing poker in his friends basement in high school while the parents were "out-of-town" only to have them arrive and open the basement door to billowing cigar smoke and utter "Lawrence, are you down there?"

--He and his friends (maybe about 8 of them) went in on a car together, a real clunker. They never licensed it or did much legally with it, and after it was parked, broken down, with about 100 parking tickets, decided they just had to abandon it.

Matt and I had a chance to listen to a classic storyteller last night, Garrison Keillor. I can remember listening with my Dad to public radio as a kid to his "A Prarie Home Companion" show and hearing tales of Lake Wobegon. Hearing songs about Powdered Milk Biscuits and listening to the stories of all the townsfolk, including Ralph, of Ralphs "pretty-good" grocery store ("if you can't find it at Ralphs, you can probably do without").

Hearing Garrison Keillor recount memories (made up or not), of growing up in midwest winters, and share his thoughts on aging was a fantastic evening. He wore his classic red sneakers and socks (perfect for a Nebraska audience). Before the show as I looked on the huge stage I wondered if he was ever intimidated. . .all that was there was a small table with a couple of bottled waters, a stool and a mic and mic stand. But from the moment he took the stage, I could tell we were in for a great night, and it was. He told his fantastic stories for almost 2 hours straight, never stopping for even a drink of water, keeping the audience captivated the whole time.

This is how Garrison Keillor always ends his shows and programs. . .(we once gave my Dad a plaque with this saying), "That's the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average."

In a couple of weeks we'll be able to hear from our great family storyteller, my Dad. Why? you ask? It's Grandpa Camptime again!! (2 different links there. . )

Monday, February 11, 2008

At our big family dinner last night, someone brought up this article seen in Sunday's paper. . .

Woman dies during first wedding danceTHE ASSOCIATED PRESSDAVIE - It was the first dance of a marriage that was not to be.Kim Sjostrom and Teddy Efkarpides had been married for less than an hour on Jan. 19 when the bride crumpled in her husband's arms during a rendition of a Greek song. At 36, Sjostrom was dead from heart disease.

The couple was married three years to the day after their first date. Sjostrom had wanted a real-life version of the film, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which played in the background as friends fixed her hair and makeup before the ceremony.

The wedding had became a project at Davie Elementary School, where Sjostrom taught first grade. Fellow teachers provided the wedding gown, the flowers, decorations and one of them, an ordained minister, performed the ceremony.

Sjostrom carried blue and white flowers during the ceremony - the colors of the Greek flag. As they exchanged vows, Efkarpides, a 43-year-old carpenter and Navy veteran, wept with happiness.

The joyous mood of the celebration was soon transformed when Sjostrom complained of being lightheaded during the couple's first dance.

Efkarpides thought his wife, a diabetic, needed sugar. She collapsed.

Efforts to revive her by wedding guests, paramedics and doctors at a nearby hospital all failed.

After all of the "Oh, that's so sad." and "Can you imagine?" comments, someone said, "I wonder what song it was?"Matt piped up right on time and started singing. ."Oh. . .I, I just died in your arms tonight. . . it must've been somethin' you said. . "

Monday, February 04, 2008

Dear Spammers, if you want me to fall for your stupid emails (which I won't), perhaps you should at least spell most of your words correctly, and be sure that they contain correct grammar (I've added the parentheses to help them out). . .

Case in point (an email I received this morning):

We Recently noticed one or more attempts to log in to your PayPal account from (A?) foreign IP adress and we have reasons to believe that your account was hijacked by a third party without your authorization.

If you recently noticed one or more attempts (ON?) your account while traveling, the unusual log in attempts may have been initiated by you. However, if your are (THE?) rightful holder of the account, click on the link below to log into your account and fallow the intrusctions.http://www.paypaaccount-update.com/webscr/(I'm guessing they wanted this to actually be paypaLaccount)If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choise but temporaly suspend (YOUR?) account.We ask that you fallow at least 72 hours for the case to be investigated and we strongly recomanded(THAT YOU?) verify your account in that time.If you recived this notice and you are not the authorized account holder, please be aware that it is in violation of PayPal policy to represent oneself as another PayPal user. Such action may also be in violation of local, national, and/or international law. Paypal is misappropriate(I have no idea what they were trying to say here) at the request of law enforment agencies to ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.Thanks for your patiance as we work togheter to protect your account.Sincerly,PayPal Account Review Department*Do not replay (TO?) this e-mail your reply will not be recived